Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s A Grain Of Wheat And Joseph Conrad’s Under Western Eyes

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the intertextual relationship between Joseph Conrad’s Under Western Eyes and Ngugi Wa ThiongO’s A Grain of Wheat. The hero of Conrad’s novel Razumov is a literary twin-brother of Mugo, the anti hero of Ngugi’s A Grain of Wheat. The theme of betrayal of trust, which is central to Ngugi’s concern in AGOW, bears certain resemblance to the same theme treated in Conrad’s UWE. We attempt to show that this intertextual thematic focus is a means to comment on some of the universal problems of man; that is modern man irrespective of geographical setting, cultural affiliation and social status, is complex and fragile.